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-   -   Neighbour doesn't know how to drive. Buys new car, promptly crashes it! (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/street-experiences/102514-neighbour-doesnt-know-how-drive-buys-new-car-promptly-crashes.html)

My neighbor bought a new Hyundai Santro. He has been driving scooters all his life. Both geared and gear less. He must be around 45 yrs old. He does not know car driving and decided to learn driving using his new car. The car was brought home from showroom by a driver spared by them.

Car driving lessons started. The training was done by a relative of my neighbor. Few days passed and his driving skills seemed to be improving. One fine Sunday I was woken up from sleep by the harsh racing sound of a car engine. I looked out through my bedroom window and saw the new car racing ahead. It went and rammed the corner of a house. It narrowly missed an electric post by few inches.

The bonnet went in by 1.5 to 2 feet. Engine had serious damage. Coolant was leaking. Drivers head hit the windshield and it was broken. It was sad looking at the faces of my neighbor, his wife and their two kids. Just a few days back they had done pooja, written the kids name on the back door glass area and were so happy about the new car. I tried to get them out of the shock by telling them about insurance facility and that they wont have to spent much from their pocket etc...

The trainer was no where to be seen. He disappeared. The man didn't have the sense to pull hand brake and stop the car. He just went into self induced coma.

The car was taken(towed) to the workshop after few days. My neighbors confidence was so shaken that he sold the car for whatever it was worth.

Points to be noted:

1. Wear seat belt while driving whatever small distance.
2. Go to a proper driving school for learning driving.
3. Till you are confident, go to a ground to drive. Never on narrow streets full of kids, cows, dogs, vehicles and electric posts.
4. Don't let any mishap shake your confidence. There is nothing that cannot be achieved in this world.

Very true, all new drivers should go to a driving school to learn car driving, and then move to own car. Slowly the confidence will come.

I tried doing something similar with my wife, tried teaching her on our Indica, had a few hair-raising incidents and then decided she needs to take proper driving lessons. To this day i see benefits of that decision, She never banged the car anywhere, and is a good driver i can trust and sleep behind when she takes the wheels.

Learning to drive after 40 is a very difficult task. The reflexes that one can build up in their teenage and 20's is unmatched during the 40's. Thus, it is always safe to hire a driver for your needs.

Now-a-days especially in Bangalore the traffic has exploded both in numbers and the way the vehicals are being driven. In my opinion a person who is above 40 and buying the car for the first time should go in for a AT Car with a proper Driving school training on the AT Car. I think this is the best way to get inducted into driving. Being dependent on a driver would bring in another variable and you would end up forgoing flexibility and privacy.

How daft do you have to be to buy a new car when you dont know how to drive. Sheer Stupidity is what this is.

There are so many wrong things done here I see:

1. Trying to learn in a residential closed space instead of an open ground when you are doing car driving for the first time(leaves no room for error which is very common for first timers)
2. Learning from a relative (who may in-turn have no experience in how to teach or control unseen circumstances )
3. Using a very new car which may have hard gearshifts, pedals and steering as opposed to a used car which may have the ride and controls smoothed out.(many learners opt for a second hand car to learn and then move on to their new cars)
4. Not wearing seat belts! this is the first step you must do before you even start the car, learning or not is immaterial.

Thanks heavens your neighbour was able to walk out without killing anyone.
When I was in Mumbai, a 17yr old learner practicing on his M800 lost control of the car and went over a 3 year old child. It was god's miracle the child went exactly between the wheels(instead of going under) and came out with heavy bruises. Again this was a residential area, and the guy received only a mild thrashing from the society and residential members
(come to think of it the society and parents should have stopped the activity before it had even started in the first place)

It is sad that their dreams have been crushed by this incident. It would have been better for the guy to go to a proper driving school.
Was your neighbour driving when the accident took place? What is the condition of this person; you say he hit the windshield and broke it!
No seatbelts on I guess?

@Cyrus43 - You can't say it is foolish. Arranging the finance and making the big decision to buy a car is something that happens perhaps once in the life of a middle class person. So, maybe he thought let me buy the car when the finances are right.

@selfdrive - My neighbor was driving and the trainer was in the co-driver's seat. My neighbor's head hit the windshield. He had a slight bump on his head. Nothing serious. He was not waring seat belts.

Mostly a classic case of pressing accelerator instead of brake in panic. The trainer can't do much unless he is having redundant controls like in driving school vehicles. You should never use normal vehicles to learn driving.

I remember the time when I had finished my driving lessons and with huge confidence had got myself an used M-800. Those days I stayed in Dombivli and got the car from Thane. I drove all the way from Thane to Dombivli after taking delivery and while parking in my society in reverse on a slope pressed the accelerator instead of the brake and banged the car into a wall. Luckily the headlights and bumper bore the brunt. My confidence baloon deflated within seconds. :Frustrati. I soon became a laughing stock for my neighbours.

All you can do is some pep talk to your neighbour, get him out of the fear. Its bad that he sold the car, he could have used it after repairs to polish hi driving skills instead of getting a driver. How come the windshield broke when the drivers head hit it, was he flung across the windshield.

Rule of thumb - never buy a brand new car to learn driving. Better to learn driving in a driving school.
I always recommend used cars for my friends/relatives who are new to driving and switch to a new one once they are comfortable with driving on the road and can confidently drive on their own.

But there are people who feel driving an used car is some kind of degraded statement. My neighbour who was not a regular driver still went ahead and booked an i10 top end inspite of my repeated suggestions to start with an used car. He banged his car at the society gate on the 5th day of the delivery and now the car is in the parking collecting dust. The guy is simply too afraid to take the car out. No amount of persuasion has helped. Any tips to get him to start driving again??

Really unfortunate. I wonder if the handbrake would have done anything.

I had a very similar experience, was sitting by an aunt who had just learnt driving (from a proper driving school). This was the first time she was trying to drive her 'new' car. She didn't let go of the clutch and floored the accelerator pedal. Result? car just flew towards the side of the road, I hit the handbrake, but to my shock nothing much changed, car was still moving ahead and stopped only after hitting the curb! Damages restricted to the bumper.

It was scary!

I did the same, but in my case the car turned circle with rear wheels dragging and front wheels pulling. Fortunately no damage to the car and yes it was mighty scary not only to us but folks standing nearby as well.

AM,

I'm with Cyrus on this one. If they are responsible enugh to wait till the finances are there - then they should have been doing it right - right area, learn on a trainer, wear seat belts etc.

What if there was a little kid next to that house and if he died? Would you still call their driving learning decision responsible?

PS: Pulling handbrake may not work. I've been in such a situation and it can go like Mayank said.
PPS: In march - in gurgaon, a 2 year old kid was run over at the foot of his apartment tower. The kid was waving to his grandparents, who were leaving in a car, and a speeding car coming from behind crushed the kid in front of the parents. This happened right in front of their residence, on the society road inside the complex.